A Silent Flame
by Devious Writer
Summary: Rated M for character death and violence. Minor sexual themes. The simple island of Castanet is filled with many mysteries, that have been there long before the humans on the island. Yet, they are known by little, and so they hide. But sometimes they forget, and such a small mistake could lead to disaster for everyone. But hiding is not so easyt for these beings when there's Vivi.
1. An Outcast of the Land

12/04/13

This story was originally known as: "The Magic in the Wind".

* * *

She was running for her life, and not ever had she felt so useless. Had she been told earlier the events of today, she would have laughed at the idea, burned it to ashes and let it blow out the windows. But now, it was happening, and she was running for dear life. Where could she go? The entire town was against her, maybe to that boy Kasey's farm? No, he would be useless, that is, if he wasn't also part of the mob hunting her down. She didn't have the ability to teleport, nor could she fly away. At a time like this, she felt like such a terrible witch, without some of the most basic abilities. Where could she go?

She was tiring out; she'd have to hide somewhere. The mob's sounds were distant, and she hoped that they'd just give up the search. But of course, she couldn't let her guard down, leaning against a tree. She tried to catch her breath, holding the wound on her shoulder, where she had been hit by one of the many things thrown at her, and unfortunately for her, the knife landed the hit. She couldn't turn invisible either; she'd need a potion for that. _Ugh, I'm a witch princess! Why do all my abilities rely on potions and luck? _She sighed and started to turn around, when a silver bullet went straight through her stomach, another through her chest and she coughed up blood. She was immortal, but definitely not invincible. Sure, a human would probably have died from that, but she wasn't doing too much better. She held her stomach in pain, and ran opposite of the direction of the bullet, hearing the man who shot her call: "I shot her! We can follow her blood trail!"

She ran, holding onto the bullet wound in her stomach. She looked up, seeing that she was headed towards Harmonica Town. _Wizard! _She suddenly remembered of the wizard, disguised as a fortune-teller to the public. Why couldn't she disguise herself as magician? _Oh, right, your magic sucks… _She ran to the wizard's home, hoping Wizard would let her in. She pulled on the door, it was locked.

"Wizard, open up, please! Please help me!" She screamed, sensing that the Wizard was inside.  
The angry mob was getting a bit close for comfort, and she desperately knocked on the door. Then, the door finally opened, with the Wizard, standing there reading, and half-heartedly questioned her.

"Why has there been so much noise to..." the Wizard stopped talking as he looked up, and quickly pulled her inside the house.  
He quickly locked the door, and created an energy field around the building.  
"It hurts…" Witch said, hardly holding on from fainting.  
"It's OK, just… don't move." He said, as he read a spell from a book and Witch slowly stared to heal, though the process was just as painful as getting shot in the first place. A loud knock on the door sounded.  
"Fortune-teller, let us in! That girl is a witch! Don't go close to her! She'll turn you into a frog! We must kill her, dig out her heart, and burn the body in any order!" Various voices outside yelled as they tried to knock down the door.  
"Vivi, What have you done out there?" the Wizard ask, completely out of character to his usual calm, emotionless and slow movements and voice.  
"I went into town carelessly and they… recognized me as a witch" Vivi said, sitting through the pain of the healing spell, which might not even work.  
"Burn it! Burn down the house! He's probably dead already!" various other chants came from outside, and he dared to peer outside the window, which the villagers could not see through, and saw that they were gathering up torches and other flammable objects.

Maybe he could pretend to have killed Vivi, so that the villagers might leave? Maybe that could work… but how would that work? They would want a body… Maybe he could make a fake one and leave it at that. So, he as quickly conjured up a look-alike of the wounded witch beside him, and bolted to the door. He opened the door, and right before they could burn the house, he burst out the door, trying to act like one would after killing a witch.

"Stop, there is… no need. I have killed the witch…" Wizard muttered, hoping that the villagers would believe his charades, and leave the matter as it is.  
"What? How did you kill the witch? She bolted in your house! Certainly you wouldn't have time to react!" Wizard stared at Gill, who had questioned the Wizard.  
"It is so; I had… foreseen her coming here after the events earlier, so I prepared… a trap for the witch." He said, as calmly as he could.  
"I won't believe she's dead until there's a body burned!" Luna had said it, and dashed into his house.  
The fake of Vivi was lying cold on the ground, with the bullet wounds and a gash in her neck. Wizard cringed from simply seeing the image of his… rival dead, even if it was a fake he conjured himself. Luna examined the body, as well as Jin, and Jin concluded that she was dead.  
"Then burn the body, first thing! Move her outside and we'll be done with this nonsense!" Toby said, as the villagers spread, some to make a fire and some to carry the body. Wizard looked up, past his ceiling, checking on the real Vivi. He panicked a bit; she was still bleeding out, and was unconscious. He didn't show it, however, and was greeted by Gill.  
"To kill a witch is impressive, even for a profit. I think our town would kindly like to award you with a prize." Gill said, inviting him to the town hall.  
"I am… sorry to say, that I am busy with various… other tasks and that I cannot come." Wizard said, hoping that Gill would not push it.  
"If you say so, I say goodbye then, fortune-teller." Gill said, as he left. Wizard closed the door, and went upstairs. He sighed. To think that the villagers were celebrating that he had supposedly killed a witch was disappointing to him, and he was angry. He quickly went to Vivi, and checked on her. The bullets had magically disappeared, but a small wound still existed, and Vivi was unconscious after bleeding out. He sighed, the wounds would have to heal naturally, as he created medical equipment in front of him, and bandaged her and replaced her clothes with magic, and hoped that Vivi would reawaken soon.

* * *

12/04/13

A story I thought up a few nights back. Already have chapter 3 planned.


	2. A Scathing Wind

13/04/13

I noticed that some of the text at the end didn't match up to the location of Gale's house, which I believe is actually in Harmonica Town, right?

* * *

12/04/13

Wow, this instantly became M rated, not for sexual themes though, just a sensitive topic at the end I thought needed to change this to M. Also, the story's now called "A Silent Flame."

* * *

Vivi awoke in a bed, odd, when was the last time she slept on a bed? Also, why did her house look so different? She got up, feeling a sharp pain in her stomach and chest. _I must be really hungry._.. She thought, but then, she sensed the Wizard's power all around her, and everything that happened returned to her mind, and it brought her to a panic attack and fell back on the bed, remembering how she almost died, and the unbearable pain. Wizard suddenly burst through the door, and tended to Vivi.  
"Gale! I- I" Vivi stuttered, crying as the events of the day before cycled through her mind.  
"Shush, take deep breaths… you're alright now." Gale said, trying to calm her down.  
"They were all trying to kill me, all of them! They called me names and threw things at me, and I got shot!" Vivi said, still sniffling.  
"I noticed. But you're… safe now, and that matters the most." Gale said.  
"How did you chase away the people?" Vivi asked.  
"I… gave them a fake body to burn… I told them I killed you," Gale answered, a bit distracted.  
"Now, tell me what really happened…" Gale said expectantly.

* * *

*Flashback*

"Let's see, I think I like blackberries now… curse you, Kasey!" The witch thought, eating the pie that Kasey had brought over.  
_That human, Kasey, he's the first of his kind to not run away in fear or try to burn me when they see me. Not that they _could_ hurt me, I'd just cast a… no, I'd make a… I'd do _something _and they'd all drop dead._ She thought, finishing the pie. She got up, contemplating what to do. She decided she would test out new potions and went out to gather more ingredients.

She was running through the forest. She needed 2 rabbit legs, and was chasing a rabbit. It was about to jump in a den, but the witch used a barrier to block the hole. It never came to her mind that she could also use it to trap the rabbit. So, the rabbit kept on running, with the crazy witch following. She suddenly decided to use magic, and raised the earth around the rabbit, and it tried to climb out. It was too slow, much to the joy of Witch. So she grabbed it and snapped its neck. _This will be very good for my spell!_ She then looked to the left, to see a man staring at her. The man just stared, holding an axe, doing nothing else.

"What're you staring at, scumbag?" Vivi asked, annoyed.  
_Humans, what a pain, no wonder I hid from them for 400 years. They still haven't changed apparently…_  
"BO! I SAW A WITCH! WITCH! WITCH, EVERYBODY RIOT!" The man ran to another person, presumably Bo, and pointed to Vivi.  
"I wonder what his problem is… Stupid human… It's not like I only ever socialize with gods, a wizard I forget exists, and one random human farmer who made me completely forget that I have to hide from the public or anything." Vivi said, still holding the dead rabbit and walking away.  
She slowly trotted through Harmonica Town, and back into Fugue Forest. She walked past many trees and Fugue mushrooms. _You know, I haven't seen any Fugue mushrooms lately… Not since Kasey gave that one to the Wizard…_ she continued with her thoughts, still very far from her home, until an apple flew past her head. _What?_ She turned back, and a rock hit her knee. She yelped in pain, dropping the rabbit. She looked up angrily, about to cast a spell… somehow, and another rock hit her face.

"Hey, who did that?" She looked up, and saw most of Harmonica Town in the forest, eyeing her with uncertainty, fear, or anger.  
"Oh, shit…" She voiced, and ran as fast as possible, completely forgetting about the rabbit.

*Flashback Over*

* * *

"That was… interesting…" the Wizard whispered, while checking on the bandage on Vivi's stomach. Vivi looked at the wound on her stomach, and a thought came to mind.  
"Hey, Gale, so, how did you change my clothes?" Vivi asked, blushing a bit.  
"I did it with magic, how else?" Gale responded, oblivious to the shade of red on Vivi's face.  
"Oh, um, OK…" Vivi realized how stupid her question was. There was a silence for a moment, and then Gale looked up at Witch expectantly.  
"I asked; how else?" Wizard repeated, while tying up a new bandage over the old one. Vivi had forgotten it was rude for them to not answer a question… crap.  
"I, um, I thought you stripped me…" Vivi said, looking away.  
The wizard blinked, and asked:  
"Have you… heard the human term: 'I have the image stuck in my head now'?" Wizard asked, staring at her.  
_Ugh, I hate myself._ Vivi thought. She blushed more, not knowing how to respond.  
"You're a bit… red. It's cool in here, so I hope this isn't a fever… but it's good to know you at least didn't get an infection," Gale said, pausing as if to ponder what to say next.  
"Kasey came here. He knows you're alive." Gale said.  
Vivi looked horrified.  
"He knows? Has he told the villagers? Is he going now? Did you trap him here?" Vivi asked, but Gale cut her off.  
"Don't worry. He won't tell anyone. I made sure of it." Gale said reassuringly.  
"You trapped him here?" Vivi stared at him.  
"No, don't worry. He actually came here very… angry at me. He heard from the town that I apparently killed you, and came here, to do what, I wasn't exactly sure. But I told him you were actually fine, and he quickly cheered up, and left you 2 jars of blackberry jam. He also gave me some… shining coffee beans. "  
"So, he was happy I was alive, and he's not plotting to kill me?" Vivi asked, feeling very paranoid.  
"No, I don't think he is." Gale replied, taking a sip out of a coffee mug he made appear.  
Sounds of footsteps came from downstairs, and Luna barged in.

"Hey, Mr. Fortune teller, I have…" Luna stopped as she saw the witch. She had a horrified look, and she backed away.

"Y-you lied to the town, y-you protected that witch! I-I'll tell Gill and everyone will hear about it!" Luna was backing away, when Candace came in, also noticing the witch, but both Gale and Vivi saw that she actually seemed relieved to see the Witch. Luna ran downstairs, with Gale giving chase, leaving Candace to say that she didn't understand why everyone wanted the witch dead, and ran downstairs too.

Gale chased after Luna.

"You will not speak of this to anyone!" Gale yelled, gaining on the girl.

"You protected a witch! What are _you_ anyway? You can't be human!" Luna said, just as she left the house.  
Gale started whispering a curse, and suddenly most of Luna's muscles went limp, almost as if she was paralyzed, and she fell.

"Luna!" Candace came running through the door; Luna didn't make it very far. The wizard trapped Candace in a force field. He then slowly walked up to the two of them, who were beside each other, and grinned.  
"W-what're you going to do us?" Candace asked, looking up at the wizard.  
"I cannot have anyone speak of this event." Gale said sternly.  
"You won't persuade me!" Luna said, still able to talk.  
"I don't want the witch dead… She didn't do anything…" Candace said sadly.  
"I can't let you leave; you'll call the town to rescue your sister, so you'll both just have to stay here unless you don't open your mouth." Gale said, staring at Luna.  
"Shelly knows where we are! She'll come looking for us! She won't come alone if we're late, and you'll be busted!" Luna replied.  
"Luna, just don't speak! I don't think the witch will hurt us…" Candace said.  
But then, the spell quickly wore off, and she was able to get up and run off just before Gale could grab her.  
_No, I can't let her put Vivi in danger like that again! _He thought, and gained on her. Unfortunately for Luna, who wasn't the best runner and was wearing high heels, she was caught within a few meters/feet/sheets of paper. Gale grabbed Luna by the arm, while she thrashed and kicked.  
"You won't tell anyone, I'll make sure of it." Gale whispered the threat with menacing eyes.  
"I won't listen! You won't stop me! I'll get the town to burn both of you! You're both freaks! Let go of me! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Luna yelled, while Candace watched, still trapped in an energy field.  
"Then I'll just have to silence you." Gale said, and a dagger appeared in his hands, and he stabbed straight into Luna's heart.

Candace raised her hands to cover her mouth, too horrified to make a sound, and a single teardrop ran down her cheek. Vivi, who just came out of the house, turned to see Luna the event.  
"Gale, no…" she whispered, seeing Luna, with the dagger in her chest.

Luna just stared at Gale in shock, her life ending all too early, in the hands of the wizard. It had happened too fast for her to understand until she knew it was over, when the cold metal pierced her skin, through her heart, and marked the end of her life. She didn't even have time to scream, as her eyes became dull, and she started to limp.

The blood ran down the handle of the dagger, down his hand, staining his clothes. Everything else seemed to fade away, the breeze of the twilight, the silent sobs from Candace, the shock emanating from Vivi. The blood dripped to the floor, as she slowly faded from her final moment. Blood may have stained his clothes, but the permanent mark was made on his mind, as a question appeared over and over.

_What have I done?_

* * *

12/04/13

I was originally going to draw the Witch Princess with pencil and paper tonight, but was too lazy to set that up. Nothing special, just the same pose as the official art, though not a trace.


	3. Gone Forever

25/05/2013

Well, this was all written last night in about an hour.

* * *

24/05/2013

So, this was a shorter chapter... I haven't worked on this for a month and a half now... Didn't really edit it either, it's 2 in the morning...

* * *

Vivi didn't know what to do; she wasn't even sure of what happened. The Wizard, with his back turned to Vivi, slowly got up.

"Vivi, do you know what this means?" Wizard asked slowly. Vivi stared at the Wizard, unsure of what he was going to do. Glancing at Candace, who was silently holding in screams, remained kneeling, the energy field surrounding her denying escape. The wizard started chuckling.

"It means," Gale started, slowly turning towards Vivi. She gulped, thinking of what to do.

"Kill all evidence." Wizard finished, turning to Candace to with a malicious grin. He slowly trotted towards her, gaining speed with every step.

"No, G- Wizard, stop!" Vivi yelled, running towards him. The dagger in Luna's chest burst into bronze and beige diamond patterns, and a machete appeared in the wizard's left hand, shooting out almost as if it was a rapidly growing vine. He was charging at Candace, the energy field around her flashing white. Candace looked up in horror, muttering something inaudible. Vivi ran between them and grabbed Wizard as he tried to force his way past.

"Wizard, stop! Listen to me; do you realize what you're doing?" Vivi asked, as Gale continued to push past.

"She can't live with this, I will kill her!" Wizard snarled. Vivi couldn't hold him much longer.

"Wizard, think about it; why you're doing all this? It's for me, isn't it? Well, I want you to stop this nonsense! You're trying to protect me, but you're just scaring me, and this isn't you. Please, stop…" Vivi pulled Gale into a hug, sobbing. Gale stopped thrashing, as he came to realization. The red gem on the hilt of his machete stopped glowing, as it turned black, the blade of the weapon started splitting into fragments like a shattered mirror, as they slowly broke off and faded away. The gem suddenly flashed white, and the blade disappeared.

"So, what do we do now?" Gale asked, as he looked Vivi in the eye. The air filled with awkward silence, until they both heard a large thud. They both turned to the sound, seeing Candace on the floor a fair distance away, holding onto her ankle. She had tripped on the roots of a tree.

They both ran towards Candace, as she looked up at them with fear in her eyes. She sniffled, and tried to crawl away.

"Candace…" Vivi started.

"You… you killed my sister…" Candace whispered, as Gale looked down.

"She's… dead…" Candace continued.

"I- I'll never see her again alive…" She made another pause.

"She was my… only friend…" Yet another pause and she continued.

"I loved her…" She continued muttering, as if she was going insane.

"She was so young…" Candace continued.

"What will Gill and grandma say?" Gill and Vivi awkwardly watched.

"You… tried to kill me too…" Candace might as well have gone insane…

"Luna… why? LUNA!" She screamed, getting up and running back to Luna's corpse. She knelt beside it, shaking it and crying.

"LUNA! LUNA! DON'T LEAVE ME! PLEASE!" Candace continued to shake the corpse, as Gale and Vivi watched.

"Come on, wake up! We can go back home, you and I, and we can talk about ourselves! We can sew more clothes for Sonata Tailoring! W-We can talk about how perfect your life was! Come on! I know you have plans with Gill next Monday! Let's pick out a dress for you to wear on your date! It'll be perfect! You can pick out or make a dress much prettier than I could ever have! Then, you can ask me how you look while I smile and tell you how beautiful you are! Then, on Monday, Gill will visit Sonata Tailoring and you can kiss in front of me and then he'll escort you out while I watch! Then, you'll have such a fun time with him while I stay at the shop and make more clothes, while grandma tells me how your work as a seamstress has always been better! Then, when you get home with Gill holding your hand, you two can kiss in front of me again and then talk about how wonderful every day is because of him!" Candace held Luna tightly, as she continued to sob.

"That girl's got problems…" Vivi whispered to Gale as they continued to watch, unsure what to do and whether people were looking for them or not.

"Luna! I was supposed to protect you, remember? You were our mother's most precious! Did I ever tell you mother said that to me when you were 3 and shortly before she passed on? You can't leave me! You've been the nicest person to me, ever!" Candace had let go of Luna.

"That girl's got _big _problems." Vivi whispered to Gale. Finally, Candace's onslaught of words slowed, as she got in the fetal position and continued to cry. Vivi waked up to her, squatting down.

"Hey, Candace…" Vivi tried to talk to her. She didn't move at all, acting like she didn't even see Vivi.

"Candace…" No response. Vivi sighed. What a mess…

"Poor girl's suffering from denial," Gale muttered, as he suddenly pulled out his spell book.

"I was thinking of visiting the Harvest Goddess, what do you think?" Gale said, as he started chanting a spell.

"I'm guessing that wasn't really a question…" Vivi stated, as she suddenly heard the goddess's voice.

"Wizard, Witch? Is that you? What is this? Ugh…" Gale explained that they were communicating through a spell.

"What is the reason for not being able to travel to my spring to talk?" The Harvest Goddess asked.

"I… I have, done something terrible, and I need to… confide in you." The Wizard said.

"Did you burn a house?" The goddess randomly asked.

"No, but we'll be… coming over now… Brace yourselves." Gale said, as he cast a spell and teleported to the Goddess's spring. In a flash of light, Vivi, Gale, Candace, and Luna's corpse were all there.

"I committed murder" Gale said.

* * *

24/05/2013

Well... that was fun.

* * *

25/05/2013

So, how are you liking this fic? I really hope everyone's liking the story so far.


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